Lawyers welcome agreement that cooperation between UK and EU courts will continue after Brexit

Lawyers have welcomed the ‘breathing space’ provided by the government’s agreement on a Brexit phase 1 deal, where judgments in the UK and EU courts will continue to be mutually recognised and enforced for a period after Britain ceases to be a member of the European Union in 2019.

EU and UK Brexit negotiators appear to have reached a compromise in the dispute over the right of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to protect the rights of EU citizens resident in the United Kingdom after Brexit. As the Law Gazette reports, the European Union has abandoned its call for the CJEU to have continued jurisdiction in the United Kingdom post Brexit, while in return Britain has promised that UK courts will have “due regard” to relevant decisions made by the CJEU. There has also been a promise from both sides to ensure that the rights of EU citizens are interpreted consistently.

Meanwhile, it has also been agreed that there needs to be “mutual clarity and certainty” on civil, commercial and criminal matters, meaning that close cooperation between UK and EU courts is likely to continue on all three fronts. It is now for the UK government to put a bill, the Withdrawal Agreement & Implementation Bill, before parliament to implement the agreement that has been negotiated into law.

Christina Blacklaws, vice president of the Law Society, welcomed the news, commenting: “We’re particularly pleased that the UK government has asked for a two-year transition including remaining for that period in the customs union and the single market. The complexity of our relationship with the European Union means that negotiations must be given adequate breathing space to achieve the best possible deal for the United Kingdom and the European Union.’